Animal Farm

There is drama on the Flores Homestead right now. I'm talking all out anarchy. An Orwellian Society in the making.

Here is the break down//

Ducks vs. environment

Chickens vs. Ducks AND Chickens vs. ALL Vegetation

Dogs vs. Chickens

Humans vs. All Creatures

It's rough people. This is real life right now. And I have to be honest and say that in the grand scheme of things, the dang chickens are winning this war! In their defense, the shift in the homestead most directly affected them, but they are resulting to some pretty extreme measures right now.

Back in April we purchased six ducklings. Well, we started with two. Then, we figured we needed to increase our odds of getting a few females (for eggs) and bought two more. We kept these four in the house for a few weeks until I had had enough of the smell and decided they were old enough to live outside. They were still quite small in comparison to our hens and we didn't want to risk them getting beat up. So, we partitioned off 1/3 of the chicken coop for the little ducklings.

Let me just interject quickly and say that this coop is a freaking castle. It is HUGE! And we only have 5 girls so we felt like this little portion would not be terribly missed. WRONG. So wrong.

Ok, so the 4 duckies are living outside and life is good. Then we make a trip to our local nursery to purchase some rose bushes and come home with two more. Yes, and then there were six. Six ducklings. My husband is a sucker for all things soft and snuggly. Well these little ducks were babies, like two days old. So they had to stay inside for awhile. Yay! {soaked in sarcasm}. A few weeks later, the baby ducklings are ready to join the older four. Now, we have five hens in 2/3 of the coop and six ducklings in the other third. And things are ok. Everyone happy. Everyone loves everyone. Life is good.

Then, this weekend the chickens declared war. We went out to feed and water and all but two of our sweet duckies were missing feathers and bits of flesh on their backs and tips of their wings. One even had marks around her little eyes like they tried to peck them out! They were traumatized and bloody. My heart broke. And my blood was boiling. I was SO mad at the chickens. Especially Baby, the ring leader. We exiled the chickens to the yard to fend for themselves while we tended to the ducks. We cleaned them up and used Banixx to dress the wounds. Poor babies. They looked awful.

We were sort of lost as to what are next move should be. Clearly these creatures cannot live in peace and harmony. Obviously we need to build a separate coop. Which we are doing this week. It just wont be complete for a few days. So the living arrangements are a little cray cray right now.

The ducks reside in the lower half of the chicken coop/run area all day and night. The chickens live in the upstairs portion of the coop{yes, upstairs--it's a castle remember?} locked in at night. In the morning I open the hatch and place the chickens outside of the coop, into the yard, with the dogs. Before you freak out, our dogs love our chickens. Sort of. They could really care less about them. But, I am beginning to notice that they are a little tired of them intruding on their stomping grounds.
Our lush grass sprouts and my beautiful flowers have been pecked to death.  It is just seriously out of control. And sort of comical.

Anyway, the ducks will soon have their own home, ladies will return to their castle and the dogs can roam in peace. And the humans will still be humans and wait on the creatures hand and foot. Where is the justice in that?

-Mo